Coronavirus vaccine candidate can be applied like band-aid
Chemically, the vaccine works the same way as flu shots. The vaccine includes lab-made pieces of the virus in order to build the body's immunity.
By AARON REICHJohnson & Johnson band-aids sit on a shelf at the Rock Canyon Pharmacy, in Provo, Utah on May 9, 2019.(photo credit: GEORGE FREY/ REUTERS)
A new coronavirus vaccine candidate from the University of Pittsburgh that can be applied to the skin like a band-aid is now ready for human trials, NBC affiliate Click2Houston reported.Called “PITT-CO-VACC” – Pittsburgh Coronavirus Vaccine – the vaccine would be given to patients via a small patch, around the size of a postage stamp, which is put on the same way one puts on a band-aid. However, this patch comes with tiny needles that dissolve into the skin.This works using a new technology known as a dissolving microneedle array, according to Prof. Dr. Louis Falo, Jr., chairman of Dermatology at the University of Pittsburgh and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.“The microneedle array is simply applied to the skin topically, pressed into place very shortly, and then taken off and thrown away,” he explained, according to Click2Houston.Chemically, the vaccine works the same way as flu shots. The vaccine includes lab-made pieces of the virus in order to build the body's immunity.“By inducing an antibody response in this protein, you block the entry of the virus into the cell,” explained Andrea Gambotto, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, according to the station.The vaccine has already passed tests on mice, and the researchers have already begun discussion with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding approval to begin human trials.
